Auto History: Wipers Invented During New York Snowstorm

Thanks to Mary Anderson, an Alabama native, for helping keep our automobile windshields clean. She invented wiper blades in 1903 and got the patent two years later.

At the turn of the 19th century, Mary was riding a street car through New York City. It began to snow and drifts splattered against the electric vehicle. She watched intently as the operator stopped every so often, got outside and wiped off the big windshield.

Mary set pencil to paper. She sketched out a swinging arm, rubber blade, lever and spring that returned the device to its original position. She described it as "a simple mechanism for removing snow, rain and sleet from the glass in front of a motorman." The patent was issued in 1905—three years before Henry Ford began selling the model T.

Mary never persuaded manufacturers to buy her "window cleaning device." Her patent sat in a drawer and eventually expired. By 1916, auto manufacturers included windshield wipers as standard equipment.

The automatic windshield wiper was invented in 1917 by Charlotte Bridgewood of New York. Bridgwood was president of the Bridgwood Manufacturing Company of New York and mother of the silent film actress Florence Lawrence. Her patent was awarded in 1917 for an electric "Storm Windshield Cleaner." Although not commercially successful for her company, automatic windshield wipers became a standard feature on cars after 1923."Sources: California State University at Pomona, About.com, "Patently Female: From AZT to TV Dinners, Stories of Women Inventors and their Breakthrough Ideas," by Ethlie Ann Vare and Gre Ptacek.